Are students studying to be a neurosurgeon required to take a course in diagnosing rsd?

RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy) is also known as CRPS (chronic regional pain syndrome) and Causalgia. Causalgia is the worst of the forms of the disease and that is what I have been diagnosed with.

Physicians are required to know about many many illnesses, I doubt an entire course would be dedicated to diagnosing RSD, in fact I can guarantee you of it. I'm sorry about your diagnosis.

I do not think that an entire course would be on RSD/CRPS, I've been to neurologists/neurosurgeons who don't even know what this condition is so I would believe that they may study it briefly in one of their classes, but not an entire course on it unless they were to be specializing in RSD/CRPS. Doctors are required to know about many conditions which I'm sure they don't take courses on just one condition (at least for most conditions).

I've learned a lot of things from having had RSD/CRPS for 13 years and all of the hospitalizations that come with it.

First of all, I would like to clarify how one goes about becoming a neurosurgeon (or any other kind of specialist). To become a doctor, one goes through medical school, usually for four years. After that, most doctors choose to complete a residency in a specialty field. At that point, they are actually doctors and no longer students. As residents, they work under more senior doctors and do quite a lot of the hard work.

Someone who is on his or her way to becoming a neurosurgeon is a resident, not a student. There are sort of classes involved in residency, but they're mostly not as formal as one would get in school. Residents mostly learn on the job, not in courses.

I think that those of us with RSD have seen that there is obviously no course offered in medical school about diagnosing this disease. Actually, from my experiences, I would expect that if RSD/CRPS was ever mentioned in medical school, it might have been one time and in passing. I've met many doctors, both residents and attendings (more senior), who have never even heard of RSD. It's a very frustrating problem, in my opinion.

I think that everyone who suffers with RSD has a vested interest in seeing medical students enlightened about this disease.

If you're looking for a doctor who can help you, I recommend contacting the RSDSA. Years ago, they were able to suggest some knowlegable doctors to me, and I'm sure that their list has only grown throughout the ensuing years.

http://www.rsds.org

Good luck!